U.S. to auction state shale for drilling

Source: SF Gate

A nearly 18,000-acre stretch of land extending from California's Central Coast to the San Joaquin Valley is the setting for a brewing debate over an oil-extraction method that has little governmental oversight.

The land, which spans Monterey, San Benito and Fresno counties, rests on a large chunk of the Monterey Shale, a formation of underground minerals long eyed by the energy industry for its potential to yield billions of barrels of oil.

That potential is expected to come closer to reality in December, when the federal government - which owns below-surface rights to the mostly private land - is scheduled to hold an auction to lease out parcels to oil and gas companies.

The lease sale, the second on the Monterey Shale in about a year, will occur in the midst of a growing battle among environmentalists, politicians and the energy industry over the drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." It injects a high-pressure mix of water, sand and chemicals into the ground to unlock oil and natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth - resources that cannot be tapped with conventional drilling techniques.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/U-S-to-auction-state-shale-for-drilling-3850852.php

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Fracking in California near the San Andreas fault? Sure, what could go wrong?